The turmoil sweeping through Hunzhou did not affect Jing Qian in the slightest.
He cared only for one thing, whether his own cultivation could be better secured.
And at this moment, he had reached another critical juncture in his path.
Before him stood three exceedingly rare Life Furnaces.
As the Prefecture's Scholastic Overseer, it was his duty to regulate the earth's energy, assist the Prefect in maintaining the Life Furnace system, and oversee its daily operation.
Yet these three Life Furnaces before him were firmly sealed, rejecting him outright, leaving him unable to approach.
Though he held the title of Scholastic Overseer, he had not been granted the authority to match.
When Xiangyu reforged the Prefecture, he used the secret methods of the Temple of Impermanence, seamlessly binding together the island's earth-veins, the Divine Elephant Spiritual Construct, and the Prefecture's Life Furnaces into a single integrated system.
The efficiency of energy utilization was greatly improved.
But with the addition of heavy seals, no outsider could touch the system.
Xiangyu's purpose was clear: he had woven the Divine Elephant into Hunzhou's foundations, diverting the island's earth-veins to serve as nourishment for the beast.
Nearly forty percent of the island's natural energy was now siphoned away by the white giant.
Counting also the destroyed Furnaces, Hunzhou Prefecture's Fate Fire output had dropped by more than seventy percent compared to before the Yin Year.
It was, in truth, Xiangyu's helpless necessity. To sustain a fifth-rank Divine Elephant Spiritual Construct required immense resources. Without securing external supplies, the cost was unbearable.
And so came the matter of Spiritual Construct types.
The Dao Book of the Nether Cycle of Yanfu explained in detail:
"A Spiritual Construct is the vessel in which Life Pattern is lodged within spirit,
distilled from a strand of Heaven's principle.
It may store power, channel vitality, and form a seamless whole."
All things under Heaven could serve as vessels of Life Pattern, becoming Spiritual Constructs.
Thus, their forms were countless, strange beyond reckoning.
Within the Treatise, elder masters classified nearly a thousand types of Spiritual Construct into three broad categories.
The First Category: "Offerings to Heaven."
These Spiritual Constructs flare once and vanish, like a sacrifice. They cannot be cultivated or subdued.
The Transforming Dragon Construct, for instance, is magnificent in power, yet usable only once, like a shooting star streaking across the night or a talisman burning to ash.
No matter their might, they are almost always disposable tools, unable to fuse with a cultivator or contribute to lasting growth.
The Second Category: "External Moons."
These are most often found within living beings, spirits, or treasures. They possess their own Life Essence power, forming independent systems of strength.
Cultivators may subdue such external moons to force a breakthrough into the sixth rank.
What Jing Qian had seen, General Zuo Siming, the Lí Dragon, and even the Divine Elephant itself all belonged to this category.
Because of their inherent independence, they required constant external resources to remain complete.
Just as the moon shines only by reflecting the sun, so too do these constructs demand heavy costs in exchange for their tremendous benefits.
For once subdued, their power is immediate and overwhelming.
Even a low-ranked cultivator could, in theory, subdue a Spiritual Construct far above their station.
So it was with Su Min'er upon subduing General Zuo Siming; she instantly gained the strength of a Longevity cultivator, capable of standing against the Blue Lantern.
If one could afford the upkeep, a single high-tier external moon could transform an entire path in an instant.
The Third Category: "Roots of the Self."
These Spiritual Constructs fused seamlessly into a cultivator's own system, their rank rising in lockstep with the cultivator's realm.
Their power came solely from absorbing raw vitality and refining it internally, sustained entirely by the self.
Early on, their strength was less than that of external moons of higher grade.
But in terms of harmony, adaptability, and long-term growth, they surpassed all others.
To a cultivator, a self-cultivated "Root of the Self" was the most reliable ladder to Heaven.
Among Jing Qian's three great Spiritual Constructs, both the Qingping Sword Casket and the Revolving Heavenly Son Seal belonged firmly to this category of "Roots of the Self."
At this point, all three of Jing Qian's main spiritual constructs had already advanced to the eighth rank, brimming with infinite potential and endless possibilities.
As for the Xili Divine Seal, it technically belonged to the category of "External Moons." Yet by a stroke of miracle, it had been reforged into a Furnace Spirit.
Its grade fell from seventh-rank down to ninth, aligning with the Void Furnace, a far humbler level.
Fortunately, it could still rise in rank along with the Life Furnace itself.
Even better, it was easy to keep alive. A little scrap of ghost-pearls or whale-fat that Jing Qian normally used to feed his Furnace was more than enough for it to thrive.
By contrast, something like the Divine Elephant, a fifth-rank External Moon, demanded the entire vitality of a great fate Island, four-tenths of its earth-vein energy, and still needed delicacies like Brightmoon Gourds to survive. Its upkeep was beyond extravagant.
Of course, in raw strength, the little Xili Seal could only go toe-to-toe with one of the Divine Elephant's leg hairs. Eating less was only natural.
But it possessed a power utterly unique to itself, one Jing Qian could not afford to be without.
Jing Qian lifted a hand and summoned the black cat-spirit Xili into the first floor of the pagoda, pointing at the three sealed Life Furnaces before them.
"Xili, take a look. Can you crack the seals left by the Temple of Impermanence?"
He himself had no way to break them. His only hope was that the little cat could manage it.
If even this failed, then his position as Scholastic Overseer would be worth far less than he had hoped; it would be better to pack up and leave.
The little cat sniffed and pawed, scratched and nibbled, even calculated with its claws. After fussing for quite some time, it finally looked up and said:
"Master, there's a way! My power can seep through. With it, the Shadow Furnace Technique will definitely work!"
Jing Qian clapped his hands together, elated.
"Excellent! Do your utmost, and for every Fate Fire you help refine, I'll grant you an extra share."
"Yes, Master!"
So the man and cat sat cross-legged together and began their work.
Jing Qian held the little black cat in his palms, channeling streams of law-force into its tiny body.
Before long, wisps of dark smoke rose from Xili's fur.
That smoke spread through the chamber, then drifted toward the lone Azure Furnace.
At once, a faint golden Buddhist radiance surfaced over the Furnace, blocking the smoke.
But Xili's smoke was strange, an aura born only of Furnace Spirits, carrying a resonance that could heighten a Life Furnace's own spirituality.
The seal judged it a benign influence and let the smoke pass.
In this way, Xili successfully pierced the seal, establishing a subtle connection to the Furnace within.
For the first time, Jing Qian was able to glimpse the information inside:
[Divine Furnace · No.1247]
Rank: Azure Furnace
Foundation: Divine Marrow
Remaining Lifespan: 426 years
It was one of the standard Divine Furnaces bestowed by the imperial court.
The numbering in the thousand-range corresponded to Azure-rank furnaces. Above them were the hundred-series Purple Furnaces, and higher still, the single and double-digit Titled Furnaces.
Once the link was established, Jing Qian and Xili unleashed a secret art together, pouring their strength into it until the technique took shape.
The Dao Book of the Nether Cycle of Yanfu contained an entire chapter on Life Furnaces, an anthology of knowledge compiled by predecessors who had experimented with furnaces and flame.
Among its records was the Shadow Furnace Technique, the ultimate method for both enhancing one's own Furnace and secretly leeching from an enemy's.
When performed, the technique etched a shadow-imprint of one's own Furnace beneath an opponent's.
From then on, a portion of the earth-vein energy gathered by the enemy Furnace would be quietly diverted into the shadow, feeding one's own flames.
Distance mattered little. However far apart the two were, the siphoned energy would flow seamlessly into one's Furnace.
And the shadow-furnace hid perfectly in the true Furnace's depths, nearly impossible to detect.
Even if discovered, it could not be removed without severing the enemy's entire earth-vein link, an unthinkable act.
To Jing Qian, this technique was nothing short of the greatest parasite script in all of Yingfutu World.
The pinnacle of freeloading. The very definition of shamelessness.
He could only study it reverently and give it his silent applause.
If the ancient tales of the Nether Dao still lingered, who would ever dare allow a disciple of that sect anywhere near their precious Life Furnace?
And yet Xiangyu, in his arrogance, had locked Jing Qian right in the very core of Hunzhou's system, like letting a monkey guard the Peach Garden.
Jing Qian had no qualms about turning jailer into thief.
Still, the Shadow Furnace Technique was not easily accomplished.
It required a Furnace that had already birthed a Furnace Spirit to act as the medium.
Only then could a shadow be drawn and the art completed.
With Xili bound to the Void Furnace, they barely scraped into eligibility.
The process of creating the first shadow-furnace was grueling.
Jing Qian and Xili gave their all, failing more than forty times before at last succeeding.
Ten days passed, their entire stock of life essence spent to fuel the effort.
But when the shadow finally took root beneath the Divine Furnace, a subtle link shimmered to life between it and the Void Furnace.
Jing Qian immediately pulled Xili back into the Void Realm, standing before his own White-Flame Furnace.
There it roared, firelight surging skyward, blazing with explosive power.
Inside the Void Furnace, the earth-vein essence it was drawing in had multiplied several dozen times over!
Jing Qian couldn't help rubbing his palms together in excitement.
"So then how's the Fate Fire output now?"
Xili sensed carefully, its whiskers twitching, and finally cried out in delight:
"Master, we can refine at least one White-Fang Fate Fire every month now! We're taking off!"
The little wretch, who had never seen much of the world, was actually cheering over this increase in output.
If not for the siphoned support from the Divine Furnace, then by the Void Realm's own pitiful production speed, even a single, lowest-grade White-Fang Fate Fire would have taken over a year of painstaking refining.
Jing Qian pressed further:
"And you? Do you think you can keep it up, keep pushing?"
Xili answered without hesitation:
"No problem. I can build at least seven more Shadow Furnaces!"
"Good. Then let's keep going."
With that, Jing Qian slipped out of the Void Realm and set his sights on the other two Burning-Azure Furnaces as his next targets, beginning a new round of the Shadow Furnace Technique.
With the first success behind them, man and cat worked far more smoothly.
After another five days, their efforts doubled, with two more Shadow Furnaces anchored successfully beneath the Burning-Azure Furnaces.
From that moment, all three of Hunzhou Island's Life Furnaces had back doors carved into them.
This enormous island was one of the richest cores of qi in a hundred thousand li of sea territory, its earth veins deep and overflowing with vitality.
Handled properly, its Fate Fire output was enough to sustain the cultivation of an entire government office of high-ranking adepts.
Now, though, the flood of essence was first skimmed by the Divine Elephant, which drained forty percent. Then Jing Qian stole away another twenty percent.
That left barely forty percent of the island's power to condense Fate Fire as intended.
And as Xili continued to grow, the effectiveness of the Shadow Furnace Technique would only increase, letting Jing Qian leech even more from Hunzhou's veins.
The truth was, Hunzhou's cultivators were a selfish lot; no one cared about the greater good of the prefecture. Everyone just scrambled for their own gain.
Jing Qian, as an outsider, was even more shameless.
After tireless effort, he finally had his own stable source of Fate Fire!
Xili, meanwhile, after shaping three Shadow Furnaces, had all the long, glossy fur shaved clean off its head and back; its hairs had been consumed as materials in the process.
Though it looked quite pitiful, its aura had grown stronger, and the Void Furnace itself blazed brighter with each step.
When Jing Qian probed it carefully, he found that if they could anchor just two or three more Shadow Furnaces, his Void Furnace would likely advance into a Burning-Azure Furnace of its own.
A very promising prospect indeed!
He stroked Xili's smooth, bald back, then patted its head.
"Come on, take me to the Furnace-House. I want to see it for myself."
"Yes, Master!"
At his command, the cat perked up instantly, practically bouncing with excitement.
Jing Qian left a ghost-avatar in place, then entered the Void Realm with Xili and seated himself before the Void Furnace.
The bald cat pressed its paws together and began to chant a strange incantation.
The flames within the Furnace roared higher, gradually shaping themselves into a blazing circle.
At the perfect moment, Jing Qian sent a thread of his consciousness into Xili.
The cat leapt straight into the fire-ring, carrying Jing Qian's spirit along.
In an instant, the heavens flipped, divine fire descended, and both cat and man were wrapped within it.
When Jing Qian's senses cleared, he found himself standing in a place utterly bizarre.
A bustling market spread out before him, with at least several hundred figures moving about.
But none of them were living beings. They were creatures of fire, each a flame-spirit in human guise, their bodies blazing in different colors.
Roughly eighty percent were clad in dazzling golden fire, tall and radiant.
Of the rest, most were dense violet flames, while a rare few shimmered in faint blue light.
And the difference in size was striking: gold-flame spirits stood seven or eight feet tall, limbs long and varied; violet-flame spirits were barely five feet; the blue ones no taller than children at three feet or less.
Jing Qian glanced down at himself and froze.
He was the only pure white being in the crowd. The form Xili's power had given him was that of a squat white chinchilla.
In this place, he looked like nothing more than someone's pampered pet.
Rubbing his palms awkwardly, Jing Qian forced himself to mingle with the crowd, wandering through the stalls with feigned calm.
It was his very first descent into the legendary Furnace-House, and he was brimming with curiosity.
The Life Furnace Canon had said: "When a Life Furnace grows pure enough, spirit arises within. When that spirit gains wisdom, it is the greatest fortune of the Furnace's path."
Furnace Spirits were usually only born from fifth-rank Titled Furnaces and above, and they drastically enhanced their Furnace's powers.
A rare few Violet Furnaces, and even rarer Azure Furnaces, could also birth them under extraordinary conditions.
And Furnace Spirits shared a strange resonance, using Fate Fire as a link to open a hidden dimension.
That dimension was none other than this Furnace-House.
It seemed to be an innate world, born of heaven and earth itself, with no single master, shared by all Furnace Spirits and governed collectively.
They had turned it into their gathering place, a forum, a social hall.
Over time, as more cultivators leveraged their Spirits, this meeting ground evolved into a vast market stretching across the entire Yingfutu Realm.
Only those backed by high-tier Life Furnaces could descend here; naturally, the trade was all in high-level resources and knowledge.
Jing Qian, a mere Dragon-Elephant novice, mixed among them like a house pet among nobles.
But to have come here at all was already fortune beyond measure.
For this, Furnace-House was the greatest hub of wealth and resources in all the land.
If he could sniff out a business opportunity here, he'd be set for life.
Up until today, Xili had often snuck into this place to wander about, so it was far more familiar with the Furnace-House than Jing Qian himself.
Guiding his squat cat-body avatar through the bustling market, Jing Qian listened carefully as Xili explained the workings of the place.
Meanwhile, his Worldly Insight spun at full capacity, capturing every shred of information and frantically analyzing it all.
Most of the Furnace Spirits here, unless they hailed from some great lineage, concealed their true identities. Only by masking themselves could they safely conduct trades.
And since transporting goods across realms consumed enormous amounts of Fate Fire, large-scale commodity exchanges were rare.
The Furnace-House functioned more like a hub for rare magical artifacts and valuable information than a marketplace for bulk trade.
Observing quietly, Jing Qian noted that every Furnace Spirit carried a few extraordinary treasures, unique products of their own lineages, each worth a fortune.
He was nearly finished with his casual circuit of the stalls when a figure of violet flame suddenly intercepted him.
From this figure came a pulse of information. Jing Qian received it and instantly understood:
"Fellow Daoist, at last! I've been waiting forever!"
"Last time you came here, you said your master could divine life measure. So when exactly is he coming? I agreed to every price you named!"
Jing Qian thought it over briefly, then replied,
"Forgive me for keeping you waiting. This time, I've come in person and I can divine for you directly."
"Is it your own fate you want me to read?"
The violet flame shuddered with excitement, and another message poured out:
"Not for me. I have someone else in mind. Come with me!"
Without further ado, it stooped down and rather presumptuously scooped up Jing Qian's squat white-chinchilla form, carrying him toward a row of golden buildings at the edge of the Furnace-House.
Though they gleamed with heavy enchantments, these structures were little more than rows of simple one-story houses: the secure chambers where deals were struck and goods exchanged.
The violet flame moved with practiced ease, clutching the chubby white cat, and ducked into one of the rooms.
Inside, the décor was spartan: just a table and chairs, both forged of solid gold.
The flame set Jing Qian down upon the table and said,
"Please wait here a moment. I'll bring in the one who seeks a reading."
With that, the violet flame's form dissolved and vanished.
...
Yingdu, capital of Jingzhou.
Within a modest but neatly kept family compound, a tiger-headed youth burst out of a secret chamber, sprinted across the courtyard, and rushed up to a graceful young woman seated on a bench.
The girl was wholly absorbed in stitching a ceremonial robe of gold thread and crimson silk, her delicate hands working with utmost focus.
She paid no attention to the outside world until her brother's shouting shattered the calm.
Her brow furrowed in mild irritation at the interruption.
The youth cried out excitedly:
"Elder Sister, that fortune-teller is finally online! All my waiting wasn't in vain."
"Please, just trust me this once, let him read your fate again!"
"Our Fan clan descends from Star-Seizer blood; there's no way the others are right that you, our noble-born daughter, could have a fate worth less than six taels!"
The young woman sighed softly.
"Fan Zhuoyan… you've been sneaking off to the Furnace-House again, burning through our last stores of Fate Fire."
"Our branch has already lost its tribute status; we no longer receive earth-vein supply."
"That last bit of Fate Fire is for your Body-Burning Rite, to step into Fatebinding. Why risk your entire path of cultivation?"
But Zhuoyan only wore a stubborn expression, urging his sister again and again.
At last, she relented with a weary shake of her head.
"Very well. I'll accompany you once more."
"But this is the last time I'll indulge you. After this, you must devote yourself wholly to tempering your qi and flesh, and prepare for your advancement."
With that, the Fan clan's young lady rose and followed her younger brother back into the secret chamber.
At its center rested a sixth-rank Violet Furnace, though its earth-vein supply had long since been cut off. The flames inside guttered, barely clinging to life.
The girl stepped forward, channeling her own Azure-Wing Life Essence to link with the furnace.
Moments later, a spider-shaped Furnace Spirit appeared, bearing a wisp of her soul straight into the Furnace-House.
Only a quarter-hour passed before the violet flame reappeared before Jing Qian.
But the soul hidden within its form was no longer the same; it was now hers.
Jing Qian wasted no time, cutting straight to business.
"So, it is you who seeks a reading?"
"One Blue-Blood Fate Fire as my fee. If that's agreeable, we may begin."
That was the price Xili had suggested.
When Jing Qian did the math in his head, he realized the profit margin was outrageous.
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